Category: Obama

Is White House “refugee czar” lying low to avoid scrutiny over Benghazi disaster and cover-up

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Are they keeping Samantha Power under wraps now so she won’t be tainted by the Libya scandal washing over Washington?  And, why would they do that?

Ever since the Benghazi disaster on September 11th, I’ve wondered where the third member of the “humanitarian vulcans” could be.  And, especially now as it appears increasingly likely that Benghazi could end the political career of US Ambassador Susan Rice and if all goes as it should, Hillary should be out too, I am puzzled by the complete silence on Samantha—the third member of the troika that pushed Obama into his Libyan adventure.

First, who is Samantha Power?

*  Power was born in Ireland and is a protege of George Soros.  Update:  Here is a better link connecting Soros and Power.

*  She is credited with being the brains behind something called R2P (shorthand for the Responsibility to Protect) a doctrine which says a country can (and must) go to war to avert a humanitarian disaster.

* She is married to Cass Sunstein, former “regulatory czar” in the Obama White House and author of a book Glenn Beck highlighted at length entitled “Nudge” and I think its self-evident where he wants to nudge us to!

* Power called Hillary Clinton a “monster” during the 2008 Presidential campaign.

* After Obama was elected he placed Power in the White House National Security Council.

* Interesting to me at the time was that she was tasked with reforming the Refugee Resettlement Program which is really the purview of the State Department.  (Incidentally, she and her task force did nothing other than get more money allocated to refugee contractors).  She was also crowned ‘Iraqi refugee czar’ in the White House.

* In Edward Klein’s book, “The Amateur”, she was quoted as saying she was sick of doing “rinkey-dink do-gooder stuff” like refugee issues.  Here is the quote as reported by Klein:

Among Obama’s foreign policy advisers, Samantha Power, the far-out leftist firebrand, complained that the administration’s cautious, first-dono-harm, approach to the Arab Spring had effectively sidelined her in White House Councils.  She said she’d been relegated to “doing rinky-dink do-gooder stuff,” such as advocating on behalf of beleaguered Christians in Iraq, and no longer had as much access to the President.  She was itching to get back in the fray, and she saw an opportunity in Libya.

* So, she got herself in the catbird seat on Libya and became the architect for our involvement in Libya!  (and what do you know—they produced more refugees!)

Here is a very telling piece posted at Irish Central on March 30th, 2011 entitled:  Samantha Power credits President Obama with Libya uprising.

We helped the rebels in Benghazi!  (Power)

Irish born White House foreign policy specialist Samantha Power said this week she believes President Obama’s two-year international campaign to promote human rights helped trigger the uprising in Libya against Moammar Gadhafi’s rule.

In a speech she gave on Monday at Columbia University Power, currently the director of multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, defended her strong support for the military operation against Gadhafi’s forces.

[…..]

Power claimed that the president, through a series of speeches he gave in various foreign capitals, had made it easier for other nations to stand with the United States against home grown tyrants.

Power responded to a question on the military operation to impose a no-fly zone, saying that “force can be justified on humanitarian grounds”

To underline her point Power added that the international coalition had acted to protect the rebel-stronghold city of Benghazi because of Gadhafi’s ruthless attacks. [gee, maybe Gadhafi knew something we didn’t know.–ed]

[…..]

Last week The New York Times revealed that Power, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had countered reluctant military leaders to persuade president Obama to launch military operations against Gadhafi’s forces, under the guise of protecting civilians.

So, back to my curiosity about where Power is hiding out these days.  She and Sunstein recently had another child so I figured perhaps she was home being mommy.  But, no, here she is with Valerie Jarrett just last week helping to empower women and girls.  What?  Sounds like ‘rinkey-dink’ to me.  I had to laugh when I saw the photo of Power hunched over the computer answering questions from girls, it’s as if she is saying it’s just little ol’ good person me, move along, no Vulcan here.

Why is she lying low on Libya?

Maybe, just maybe, because her fortunes have risen as Hillary’s and Rice’s are declining, and the White House wants to keep her out of the scandal so she is available…...for what?

Power is being mentioned as the next Secretary of State—-ahhhhhhh!

Here is one story, again at Irish Central.

And, check out this list of five potential Secretaries of State in a second Obama Administration!

1) Senator John Kerry

2) Ambassador Susan Rice

3) National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon

4) NSC Official Samantha Power

…she is considered a key architect of Obama’s Libya intervention. But remember, some conservatives and Israel proponents don’t like Power because they consider her pro-Palestinian.

5) Rep. Keith Ellison  (the new leader in Congress on all things refugee, here)

OMG!

Obama and his ruthless “humanitarian” women—Clinton, Rice and Power—must go!

Endnote:  A version of this post was published today at Potomac Tea Party Report.

Obama: We’ll take 70,000 “refugees” for FY2013

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

70,000 needy people in search of jobs and social services will be on the way to your towns…will cost the US taxpayer in excess of $1 billion!

Every year the President is required by law to send a determination letter to Congress before the first day of the new Fiscal Year which begins on October 1.    Usually some national news outfit runs a big piece heralding its arrival.  This year I didn’t see anything (I could have missed it), but today I actively searched and here it is.

The admission of up to 70,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest…

You see that phrase I’ve highlighted.  That means that all those coming are not poor and downtrodden refugees, but we are taking them for some other (political?) reason—to give some benefit to another country that wants its undesirables removed perhaps?    Meshketian Turks come to mind and how about those Uzbek dissidents we scooped up in a special air lift in 2005?   Back in April I sent testimony to the US State Department recommending a moratorium on the whole program, #7 in my ten reasons why it was warranted addressed this concern.

The entire report to Congress for FY2013 is here.  I have only skimmed it and will have to read it carefully, but below are a few points you should have a look at.

For FY2012 Obama wanted 76,000 refugees, but we only got 58,238.  This “low” number is blamed on extra security screening put in place after the arrest of the Iraqi refugee terrorists in KY.   By the way this number, 58,238, can be found here.   When the report went to Congress for FY13, they hadn’t finished bringing in the September refugees.

You can see from the chart on Page 5 (of the President’s recent report) that although we were aiming for 80,000 in FY 2011 we brought in 56,424.  Obama dropped the target to 76,000 for 2012 and we got the 58,238.    For the year that started last week, the target has dropped further to 70,000.   The resettlement contractors are having a helluva time finding enough jobs for the refugees and I suspect that is the major reason for the further reduction in numbers.

Some other interesting nuggets that jumped out at me were:

* We are looking forward to getting more Rohingya Muslims as soon as Bangladesh stops holding up their applications. We are taking some Rohingya from “Indian urban areas.”   What is up with that?  Can’t India deal with its own so-called “refugees?” (really illegal aliens/economic migrants).  It is a prosperous country!

* We are opening the P-3 family reunification program for Somalis.  The State Department had put a moratorium on the program in 2008 after figuring out that over 30,000 Somalis got into the US by claiming a family relationship with Somalis here before them. Turned out they weren’t related at all.  There will be some DNA testing of some relationships.

* On pages 52 and 53 you can see where everyone came from in FY2011.  That year we brought in 3,161 Somalis.  In FY2012 the Somali admission numbers jumped to 4,911 (you have to go back here for that number).

* On page 59, note that we take roughly 70% of the world’s refugees.  The next 4 countries in the top 5 are Canada, Australia, Sweden and Norway.

* The top receiving states in the US (for 2011) were as follows:

During FY 2011, 63 percent of all arriving refugees resettled in 12 states. The majority were placed in Texas (10 percent), followed by California (8.8 percent), New York (6.3 percent), Pennsylvania (5.3 percent), Florida (5.2 percent), Georgia (4.7 percent), and Michigan (4.6 percent). The states of Arizona (3.8 percent), Washington (3.8 percent), North Carolina (3.8 percent), Illinois (3.4 percent,) and Minnesota (3.3 percent) also were in the top twelve states where refugees were resettled. (See Table VI.)

* On page 58, you will see that the program costs us over $1 billion dollars to resettle less than 60,000 refugees.  This figure does not include: healthcare, subsidized housing, food stamps and education for the kids.

More, when I have time to read the whole thing.

Update:  In case you don’t ever look at our few comments, reader Tomasrose made the following point a few minutes ago:

The refugee industry wants higher numbers. One way they have gotten higher numbers is by being able to serve (for pay of course) “unaccompanied minors” as well as refugees, Cuban-Haitians, successful asylum seekers and trafficking victims. All of these numbers are in addition to the 70,000 refugee cap. The number of “unaccompanied minors” is surging now in order to take advantage of Obama’s deferred action plan – i.e. work and welfare permits and the promise of eventual citizenship.

At least 12,000 “unaccompanied minors” have come in this year. Many are obvious gang members – assaults on guards at processing centers, etc.

When an “unaccompanied minor” assaults a guard at a border processing center, he is merely moved to another center and eventually will be placed into the U.S. welfare system.

With new bill, Muslim Congressman Ellison takes the lead to loosen restrictions on refugees….

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….and to direct more of your tax dollars to so-called non-profit voluntary agencies (aka federal contractors).

Update and reminder:  Rep. Keith Ellison has the dubious distinction of having the most Somali constituents who left the country to join Jihadists in Africa, here.

So the powerful lobbyists for federal refugee contractors couldn’t find anyone other than Minnesota’s hot head Rep. Keith Ellison who called the Republican Party a “basically bigoted party” only a few weeks ago to carry their water in expanding refugee resettlement and getting more of your dollars into their coffers?  Really!

Readers, I have been suggesting for years that the real driving force behind the refugee program in recent years is to get more Muslim immigrants into the US, and you know with Ellison, a Muslim, now taking the lead on the program in Congress it’s the closest we’ve come to seeing that truth.

Way back in 2007, I wrote a post about an Imam from Maryland (Yahya Hendi) visiting Saudi Arabia and telling a Saudi audience that they had elected the first Muslim to Congress (Ellison) and that Muslims would control a number of US cities by 2015 (he is wrong on the year, it will take longer).  He admitted that Muslim conversions weren’t happening fast enough, so immigration is the ticket to swelling the US Muslim population.

Now here is Ellison introducing the “Strengthening Refugee Resettlement Act” last week.

Get’em in faster (speed up the security checks?), get them job training to compete against Americans in our weak job market, and make sure they get a green card right away (presently they must wait a year).

Ellison’s press release:

WASHINGTON–Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-05) today introduced the “Strengthening Refugee Resettlement Act,” which increases coordination and provides much-needed resources for new Americans fleeing war, persecution, or natural disaster.

The bill streamlines refugee processing abroad, while taking advantage of that processing time to provide refugees with English classes and work orientation training. It also allows refugees to be admitted to the United States as lawful permanent residents, saving scarce government and non-governmental organization (NGO) resources. [Do you find this as annoying as I do—these contractors just don’t want to be bothered with this extra work a year later.  They want to get their $$$ and be done with the refugees within 3-6 months and bring in another batch!—ed]

More money for the contractors!

 The bill strengthens refugee integration into local communities. In particular, it expands the public-private Matching Grant program, which has been highly successful in helping refugees become economically self-sufficient.

Brings more of your tax dollars to Ellison’s district where Ellison got elected with the help of the huge Somali population in his district.

“America’s refugee program should reflect our values of generosity and inclusion for all Americans—new and old. The ‘Strengthening Refugee Resettlement Act’ achieves this by making sure refugee families have the resources they need to be self-sufficient as quickly as possible. Strengthening support not only helps the 34,000 refugees who have come to Minnesota since 2000, but improves America’s image abroad.”

According to the University of Minnesota, Minnesota has historically had the highest number of refugees per capita. Between 1999 and 2007, over 34,000 people were resettled in Minnesota, from 30 different countries. Over 50,000 Somalis alone—many of them refugee–currently live in Minnesota.   [They are all refugees or illegal aliens—ed]

Ellison has kindly listed for us the hit-parade of federal contractors and immigration and open-borders lobbyists who support his bill:

Refugee Council USA  (this is the lobbying arm for refugee organizations)

Then he lists seven of the top nine major federal contractors who are on board with his bill.  These organizations receive millions of tax dollars to resettle refugees to your towns and cities while expending very small amounts of their own money.  These ‘church’ groups are not passing the collection plate to help refugees in any major way!

World Relief

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc. (ECDC)

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

Church World Service

The Episcopal Church

Interestingly, the two largest contractors: the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the International Rescue Committee are not listed.  I wouldn’t be quick to chalk that up to any policy concerns with signing on with Ellison but more likely just a bureaucracy problem as they are so big they probably couldn’t get approval through in a timely manner.

Watch for it!  By the end of the week we will see Obama’s refugee wishlist for 2013 which if all goes the way it always does, Congress will rubber stamp it!

How’s that Arab Spring working out for Obama and the “weird sisters” this morning?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

In light of the tragic news from Libya and Egypt today, here, looks like Obama, Hillary, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power picked the wrong side in their rush to embrace the phoney-baloney “democracy movement” in North Africa.

No time to write this a.m. but check out our previous posts on the “weird sisters’ responsibility to protect” and what it has come to.

Note that one year ago, almost to the day, the Israeli Embassy was attacked by those Muslim Brotherhood “democracy advocates” in their enthusiasm to show how democratic they can be.

I guess the White House’s Samantha Power gets her wish—no “rinkey-dink do-gooder stuff “ like protecting Christians in Iraq for her.  The Muslims in Libya have now declared war on us by their murderous act.  So much for the “humanitarian vulcans” gamble.

New Australian policy to detain asylum seekers not deterring desperate people

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They say they are fleeing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  But, didn’t we just hear today that the Obama Administration doesn’t want to list the Taliban as a terrorist group?

Here, on the anniversary of 9/11, is today’s news about Hillary and Obama getting soft on the Taliban.

Washington, Sept. 11 (ANI): Days after the Obama administration designated the Pakistan based Haqqani network as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, the U.S. has hinted that it is still undecided about placing the Taliban on its list of foreign terrorist groups.

“We do very intensive analysis before we designate someone as a foreign terrorist organisation, and I think I’ll let the designation speak for itself. We have reached that conclusion about the Haqqani Network and we think it’s the right decision,” The Nation quoted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as saying.

[…..]

The U.S. is seeking to engage the Taliban in negotiations to renounce violence and accept the Afghan Constitution to better the chances of peace following the planned withdrawal of U.S. combat troops in 2014. (ANI)

Here we have the news about asylum seekers, with no confidence that the Taliban will reform, arriving in Indonesia and ready to board boats for Australia.

REFUGEES from Afghanistan and Pakistan are still arriving in Indonesia en route to Australia despite the Gillard government’s ”no advantage” policy and the introduction of processing on Nauru.

The news suggests the policy is not a deterrent to asylum seekers leaving the war-torn South Asian countries.

It also contradicts the line from Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare that the recent influx of boats from Indonesia represented a ”closing-down sale” by people smugglers.

An Afghan refugee living in the town of Cisarua, south of Jakarta, told The Age yesterday that only days ago a new group of refugees had arrived after flying in from the city of Quetta in Pakistan.
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”They are coming little by little. Four days ago, 20 people came to Jakarta airport,” said refugee Alemzadeh, who is in Cisarua waiting for a boat to Christmas Island.

”They know [about the new policy], but they don’t stop. They say it’s too dangerous to stay in Pakistan.”

[….]

”Everyone knows [about the drowning], but … they say ‘When I go back to my country, I am sure that Taliban or al-Qaeda or the other agents of the Taliban will detain me, kill me’,” he said.

Hillary needs to get on the horn and tell these people to not fear the Taliban because Obama said so.